Ice-making apparatus



Feb. 26, 1952 c. FIELD 10E-MAKING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Aug. 30, 1946 FIGI.

lNvENToR. CROSBY FIELD ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 26, 1952 c; HELD ICE-MAKING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 50. 1946 INVENTOR. CROSBYfWELD BY MLU I v MW ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 26, 1952 c. FIELD ICE-MAKING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 50, 1946 FIGL.

'alf/111111111111111' INVENTOR. CQOSBY FIELD ATTORNEYS.

Feb. 26, 1952 c. FIELD Y 2,586,802 ICE-MAKING APPARATUS Filed Aug. so, 1946 5 sheets-sheet 4 'Il IIR W Feb. 26, 1952` c. FIELD 2,586,802

ICE-MAKING APPARATUS Filed Aug, 30, 1946 5 Shees-Sheei'I 5 INVENTOR. CQOLSBY F/ELD A TTOEWEYS.

Patented Feb. V26, 1952 ICE-MAKIN G APPARATUS Crosby Field, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Flakice Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application August 30, 1946, Serial No. 693,994

7 Claims. l

This invention relates to the congealing of liquids and, more particularly, to the making of ice by freezing laminae or layers into large pieces of more or less regular configurations.

An object of this invention is to provide for the congealing of liquids such as'water, cream, fruit juices and the like in a thoroughly dependable and practical manner. A further object is to provide for the freezing of liquids vto form layers or laminae which may be frozen together to form large pieces of ice. A further object is to provide automatic apparatus for carrying out the above of such character as to be readily adaptable to varying conditions of use. These and other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out below.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combinations of elements, arrangements of parts and in the several steps vand relation and order of each of the same to one or more of the others, all as will be illustratively `described herein, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the following claims.

In the drawings in which are shown several of many possible embodiments of the invention:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of one embodiment of the invention;

Figures 2 to 8, inclusive, are partially schematic vertical sections of seven other embodiments of the invention; and, q

Figure 9 is a horizontal section of the embodiment of Figure 8.

In the present application the term ice is at times used in its broader sense as meaning any I' type of congealed liquid. For example, this term may include all types of water and water-base frozen fluids, such as frozen fruit juices, frozen cream, etc. as well as non-aqueous base frozen fluids. In general, the present application relates to the freezing of thin layers of ice which are of such configuration that they may be fitted at least partially one Within another, and these layers are referred to as laminae.

-In accordance with the present invention, large pieces of ice are formed by two or more of these laminae, the thickness of the various laminae and the number which are frozen into one piece, as well as the size of the final product, depending upon the many considerations met with in the practice of the invention. The laminae are frozen upon freezing surfaces which in most of the illustrative embodiments of the invention are generally annular. The freezing surfaces may be cylindrical with the laminae being formed on an outer surface or on an inner surface. Generally speaking, the laminae are made in what may be termed sets or groups so that small laminae t within larger ones, and those of each group are nested over the next smallest.

, face a distance equal to the thickness of the next sof ` lamina, thus to provide a layer of liquid to be frozen.

The laminae may be handled individually so that one is moved in nesting relationship with respect to the adjacent one by either the action of gravity or by positive mechanical action. The laminae may be caused to fall one within another or they may float upwardly through unfrozen liquid one within another, and the movement may be controlled mechanically or by providing enlarged laminae sections such that an enlarged section on one lamina provides a stop against which the next lamina rests.

The term harvesting is used to refer generally to the removal of the ice from the freezing surface, and specifically to the manner in which the adhesion between the ice and the freezing surface is broken. This may be by heating the freez ing surface with electrical resistors in contact with the freezing surface or there may be means to 1 cause a flow of electric current through the freezing surface. For example, a heavy electrical current of low potential may be passed through the walls of 'a cylindrical freezing tube, or current may be induced in the freezing walls by setting up an induction field. This latter is referred to as y' tubes and the smaller of these laminae is nested within the larger and the laminae are then frozen together and harvested. The evaporator is formed by an outer shell |40 closed at the top and bottom by plates |42 and partially filled with insulating material |44 to form an upper evaporator chamber |46 and a lower evaporator chamber |48. Extending downwardly from the top of this assembly is a lfirst freezing tube |50 and extending upwardly from the bottom is a second freezing tube |52. These freezing tubes are joined 3 so that they overlap at a copper ring |54 and at the top and bottom there are similar rings |56 and |58, respectively.

During the freezing operation water is pumped from a sump tank |60 by a pump |62 through a pipe |64 into the top of freezing tube |50, and refrigerant is supplied to the evaporator chambers so that two cylindrical laminae of ice |66 and |68 are formed. In order to insure that the liquid is spread evenly on the inner surfaces of the freezing tubes, there is a centrally supported staff which carries three spreader buttons i12. As the Water flows down tube |50, the main portion of it flows along the tube walls, and water flowing or falling down the center of the tube is deflected by button |12 and thus is diverted toward the tube walls. Similar actions are obtained farther down where the water enters and passes down tube |52. The excess water flows through a screen |14 into sump tank |60 for recirculation and the level of the water in the sump tank is maintained by a oat Valve |16 connected to a source of liquid to be congealed.

At each end of each of the evaporator chambers is a header girdle |18 which is energized continuously to limit the vertical extent of the ice formations. Thus, the laminae are of predetermined length and they have inner tapers at their ends as indicated in the drawing. The relative sizes of tubes |50 and |52 are such that when laminae of the desired thickness have been formed in the tubes, the lamina fromtube |50 will t snugly within that of tube |52.

For harvesting, a heavy electrical current is passed from ring |55 to ring |54 and this heats tube |50 and causes lamina |66 to drop from the tube. Simultaneously, however, a solenoid |80 is energized and this projects the plastic forward end |82 of an armature |84 upwardly into the broken line position. Therefore, lamina |66 falls onto this plastic tip and is thus held nested within lamina |68. The freezing operation for tube |52 is continued with the result that the two laminae are frozen together. In the meantime the current has been disconnected from rings |54 and |56 and has been connected between rings.

|54 and |58 so that now tube |52 is heated so as to release the body of ice from the tube. Solenoid |80 is also deenergized and, therefore, when the bond is broken between lamina |68 and tube |52., the body of ice falls from the freezing tube. This body of ice is diverted to the left by a screen |14 onto an endless belt |86 which carries the ice into a bin |90.

In the embodiment of Figure 2 the construction and operation is somewhat the same as in Figure 1 except that the freezing tubes are inverted and the water is passed upwardly through the tubes and out through a pipe |92. Furthermore, solenoid |80 is normally energized so as to hold the armature in the raised position shown, and the solenoid is deenergized only at the time of harvesting the smaller lamina |66. In this embodiment, lamina |66 floats upwardly when it is released and it is stopped by tip |82 of the armature when it is nested within lamina |68.`

When the body of ice is harvested it floats to the top of pipe |02 and the flow of water is such that the ice bodies pass over the top of the hump indicated at |94 and they fall down and are diverted to the left by screen |14 into a storage bin (not shown) the water is recirculated as in Figure 1.

Positioned on the outer wall of the smaller freezing tube 18| adjacent the upper girdle coil |18 is a thermocouple. This thermocouple is positioned slightly below the line which is the upper edge of lamina |66 when the lamina is of the full thickness desired; that is, as the lamina builds up from a thin cylinder in the manner pointed out above, the ice creeps up the tube toward girdle coil |18 and forms the tapered end as shown. The thermocouple is maintained above the freezing temperature until the adjacent portion of the freezing tube is covered by ice. However, immediately upon the ice reaching this point, the temperature of the thermocouple drops rapidly. This provides an accurate indication of the time at which the ice has reached the desired thickness and, therefore, when the temperature of the thermocouple drops, the harvesting operation is started. A similar thermocouple |83 is positioned on the outside of the upper end of the larger freezing tube |52. 'This thermocouple is also connected in the control circuit so as to initiate the harvesting operation at any time that lamina |68 has a predetermined thickness. In this way the harvesting operation is initiated alternatively by the two thermocouples with the assurance that the central hole in lamina |68 will always be large enough to receive lamina |66.

In the embodiment of Figure 3 the construction is similar to that of Figures 1 and 2. However, the refrigerant circuit is represented by the liquid refrigerant inlet pipe |96 at the top and the refrigerant gas outlet pipe |98 at the bottom and the two refrigerant chambers are connected by a pipe 200. Terminals 202 are shown for connecting the source of current to the girdle coils |18. Here the flow of water is from sump tank |60 through the pump |62 and upwardly through the freezing tubes. The rate of returny of the water to the sump tank through a pipe 204 is controlled by a valve 286 so as to maintain the Water level indicated. Air is supplied at the bottom of the freezing tubes through an air pipe 208 to improve the quality of the ice produced. During harvesting the smaller lamina |66 is held nested within lamina |68 by a cylindrical stop member 2|0 which is held at the level indicated by aA rope 2 l 2 carried by a pulley 2 I4. When the body of ice is harvested, this stop member is lifted so that the body of ice oats to the top of the flared open top of tube 2|6 and the ice body is removed manually. v

The embodiment of Figure 4 is similar to that of Figure 3 except that the larger freezing tube |152 has a metal sleeve 230 tted thereon and this sleevecovers the freezing tube throughout the freezing zone except at the top. Therefore, during the freezing operation there is more rapid heat-transfer at the top of the freezing zone than elsewhere with the result that the lamina 232 has an upper portion of enlarged thickness forming a flange 234. Therefore, when lamina |66 floats upwardly into nesting relationship within lamina 232, its upper end engages this flange 234 and the laminae are thus automatically nested. The upper end of the freezing u nit opens into a tank 236 where the water level is maintained as indicated and when a number of the ice bodies accumulate in this tank, they pile up and some fall down a chute 238 into a bin (not shown).

In the embodiment of Figure 5 the arrangement is similar to that of Figure 4 with the freezing tubes being inverted so l that harvesting is ,somewhat of the manner of the embodiment of Figure 1. During harvesting, lamina |66 vis held in its proper nested position `within shell 232 by the inwardly protruding` flange. In this embodiment the refrigerant is ammonia and the evaporator is flooded during the freezing operation, there being a refrigerant inlet pipe 229 and an inlet valve 231. The gaseous refrigerant is withdrawn from the top of the evaporator through a normally open outlet valve 233. During the harvesting operation valve 233 is closed so that the evaporating refrigerant forms a gas pocket which drives the liquid refrigerant out of the evaporator chamber. The bottom of the evaporator chamber is connected through a pipe 235 having a relief valve 23| therein to the inlet pipe 22S. Valve 23| is closed during the freezing operation so that the flow of refrigerant into the evaporator is controlled by valve 231. However, when the harvesting operation is started, valve.23| 'is opened so that the liquid refrigerant can flow unrestricted from the evaporator chamber. This insures rapid harvesting and eiiicient operation.

In the embodiment of Figure 6 the ice of lamina 239 is caused to build up at the top to form a hump 4! and the evaporator around the lower freezing tube is blocked so that lamina 243 is caused to build up to provide a slot 245 which is adapted to receive hump 24|. Therefore, when lamina 243 is harvested and nested within lamina 239, hump 24| acts as a stop to properly position the smaller lamina. The evaporator chambers are formed by helical grooves 241 in a plastic evaporator shell 249. The refrigerant enters the upper evaporator section through an inlet pipe 25| and passes to the lower evaporator section through a pipe 253. The harvesting operation is performed by induction heating, there being a coil 255 surrounding each of the freezing tubes. The girdle coils |18 limit the formation of ice at each end of each of the freezing tubes.

In the embodiment of Figure '7 the arrangement is similar to that of Figure 4, but having three tubes. The freezing tube assembly is at an angle to the vertical and horizontal, and freezing tubes |50 and |52 are surrounded by tapered sleeves 240 so as to form tapered laminae 242 and 244. The lamina 246 in tube 222 is closed at its upper end and the laminae are nested together in the manner explained above with the inner taper on the tubes insuring proper nesting. The harvested bodies of ice float to the top of a tube 248 where they fall from the enlarged mouth into a bin (not shown). Water is drained from the mouth through a screen 250' into a water return system indicated at 250.

In Figures 8 and 9 an enlargement is formed on the upper end of each of the laminae except the smallest one by projecting the refrigerant into a helical evaporator chamber 252 through a nozzle 254. Thus, as the refrigerant enters the top of the evaporator chamber, it impinges against the wall of freezingtube 256 and the heat-transfer is therefore superior to that obtained elsewhere along the tube. Therefore, as lamina 258 builds up it has an integral hump 265 thereon which acts as a stop for the smaller lamina 262. When a large body of ice is built up by a number of laminae which are formed in the manner here shown, the refrigerant inlet nozzles 254 are disposed angularly around the freezing tubes so that the humps on the various laminae are angularly disposed with respect to each other. In this way the laminae tend to nest more closely and more accurately and all of the laminae are of substantially the same length. This result may be facilitated by forming the evaporator chamber in such a manner as to cause the side of the lamina opposite its hump to be notched or to be very thin. Thus, the notched or thin portion of the smaller lamina ts against and around the hump on the larger lamina.

I As Amany possible embodiments may be made of the mechanical features of the above invention and 'as the art herein described might be varied in various parts, all Without departing from the scope of the invention, itis to be understood that all matter hereinabove set forth, or shown in the accompanyingV drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In ice-making apparatus, the combination of, a vertical freezing tube construction comprising a vvrigid outer shell having top and bottom platesat'the ends thereof and a concentrically positioned freezing 'tube projecting through said shell, said construction having insulating material' in the annular space between said shell and said tube forming a plurality of evaporator chambers around spaced zones of said tube, said tubes being of diiferent diameters at said zones whereby laminae of different diameters may be formed simultaneously, means to harvest the ice of smaller diameter and to automatically nest it in the ice of larger diameter while the freezing operation is continued on the'iee of larger diameter, whereby the ice of smaller diameter is frozen to the ice of larger diameter to form a composite ice body, and means to harvest the ice body.

2. In ice-making apparatus, the combination of, a vertical freezing tube construction comprising a rigid outer shell having top and bottom plates at the ends thereof and a concentrically positioned freezing tube projecting through said shell, said construction having insulating material in the annular space between said shell and said tube forming a plurality of evaporator chambers around spaced zones of said tube, said tubes being of different diameters at said zones Whereby laminae of different diameters may be formed simultaneously, means to harvest the ice of smaller diameter and to automatically nest it in the ice of larger diameter while the freezing operation is continued on the ice of larger diameter, said apparatus including a movable stop member which is adapted to move to and from a position werein it stops the ice of smaller diameter in a position wherein it is nested in the ice of larger diameter whereby the ice of smaller diameter is frozen to the ice of large diameter to form a composite ice body, and means to harvest the ice body.

3. Apparatus as described in claim 2 wherein said means to stop the ice is a slidable plunger which is adapted to slide radially between a stop position wherein its end is substantially in alignment with the end of the ice of larger diameter and a position wherein it is entirely outside of said freezing tube, a xed shell surrounding said plunger and providing a guiding support therefor.

4. Apparatus as described in claim 3 which includes an electromagnet coil mounted on said fixed shell and surrounding a portion remote from the freezing tube, said plunger having a magnetic portion which is adapted to be moved along said fixed shell by the energization of said electromagnet coil.

5. Apparatus as described in claim 4 wherein said plunger includes a tip portion having a conical end surface, and wherein said plunger is mounted in said fixed shell at an angle ofsubstantially forty-five degrees from the axis of the freezing tube.

6. In ice-making apparatus. a plurality of freezing tubes of different diameters presenting inner freezing surfaces upon which laminae of ice of different diameters are formed, means to cause an increased rate of freezing throughout one portion of the larger of said lamina Whereby the smaller of said laminae will nest within said larger lamina but will not pass' thereithrough, means to harvest said smaller lamina, means utilizing gravity to hold said smallerY Iamina in nesting relationship within said larger lamina until the two l'aminae are' frozen together, and means to harvest the body of ice thus formed;

'7. In ice-making apparatus a plurality of freezing tubes of different diameters presenting inner freezing surfaces upon which laminae of ice of different diameters are formed; means to' harvest the small lamina an assembly utilizing gravity to hold said smaller' lamina in nesting relationship within th'e next larger lamina until the two laminae are frozen together' comprising.

a solenoid, a plunger formed of an armature with 2 a plastic tip thereon, and a tube which is open at REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 208,304 Gamgee Sept. 24, 1878 278,527 Fordham May 29, 1883 1,936,575 Barrett et al Nov. 28, 1933 2,006,623 Barrett et al July' 2, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 2,356 Great Britain July 27, 1868 14,925 Great Britain Nov. 2, 1887 

